Legends Lie
by JustaMinion
Summary: Agram revived for the third time. A war erupts between the Core and the Moonlands. Who will be the victor? (This is my first ever fic and I really suck at summaries, but I promise it won't be boring! Please Read & Review!!) *chapter 3 is up*
1. Before the Beginning

*Hello.  This is my first fic.  Sorry if it isn't very good.  Any suggestions (spelling, grammar, errors, etc.) are welcome.  My e-mail: just_a_normal_magi@hotmail.com

**The characters of Magi-Nation used in this fic belong their respective owners, Interactive Imagination.  Except for some characters that I will create later (maybe).  Some portions of this fic may be taken from the original fics, and if they are, they belong to their rightful owners.

***This fic takes place after Agram's third revival (yes, Tony killed him, then he revived again.   How? I don't know) and after the reunion of the Core's minions (yes, the shadow magi, Morag, Nagsis, the Twins, and all the other Core magi were reunited.  How? I don't know).  Tony was summoned back to the Moonlands, to help them in this war.  But this time, he may be unable to save them.

Anyway, enjoy.  Oh, and please review it.  Thank you.

**CHAPTER 1**

                                                            "DIE!!!"

The word echoed throughout the battlefield.  Agram, the leader of  the Core, stood waiting in his throne.  Surrounding him, was a war between the Moonlands and his minions.  The Core had a huge hole in their sky-like ceiling, an upside down, rainbow colored geyser.  This geyser was an ingenious creation invented by the wise elders of the Moonlands.  It acted as an alternate entrance to the Core, which was sort of in another dimension.  This made the Core's defenses easily penetrated by their enemy.

            "You're all going down!!" cried Stradus as beam of lights impaled several charging shryques, each crashing the magi below them.  The Arderial Magi then clenched his fists, ready to send a Shockwave, which would kill any creature on the arena.  He spotted a borgor, a fat, horned green nightmare creature, pounding his summoned vellup mercilessly.

            "You heartless blob of green fat!! Shock—

            His spell was canceled as Morag, Agram's lieutenant, appeared in front of him.

            Morag was a green skinned magi (like most Core magi) in a torsoless  bone armor, wearing a red hooded cloak that concealed his entire face, leaving only the narrow, slitted eyes that burned with destruction and raw power.  He was also one of the Core's most powerful magi.  He was a magi so powerful that he hadn't even used his legs for untold centuries; now they just dwindled away to nothing beneath his torso, only swirling darkness smoked under it now.  Morag is also called "The Executor", for he has successfully decimated countless magi without any heavy exertion.

"Never insult my borgors."

With that warning, an exploding flare of darkness sent Stradus flying towards the ground.  Morag's ring flashed, and two more borgors appeared.  "Sever them all, my dark creatures of destruction!!"  Following their master's command, they dashed forward towards their enemy but were immediately blocked by Nimbulo, the Arderial elder.

"Over my dead body, Morag," the elder dared.

"Hmph.  Puny old man.  Obliterate him!!" ordered Morag.  His borgors smiled maliciously, forcing their silver fangs out of their jaws, displaying them to their prey.  They immediately leapt to the air, despite their heavy weight and bouncing bellies.  Their armored, but sharp-edged horns were pointing straight at Nimbulo, who was still hovering in the air with surprisingly, no intention of dodging the attack.  As the borgors neared him with tremendous speed, without any admonition, a flash of lightning blinded the battlegrounds.  "KAAAZZZZIIWWWW!!"

A lightning hyren appeared from above, its sparkling body crackled with electricity as it descended slowly above Nimbulo.

"My...borgors...my...pretty..." Morag gazed incredulously at the remains of his pretty borgors...small pieces of meatless, fatless burnt bones.

"Oh my! Where'd all that fat go?" Nimbulo mocked.  His lightning hyren also seemed to be laughing awkwardly.  "Has the lost of fat affected your power and courage, Morag?  Hahahaha..."

"Grrr...you're not such a puny old man after all..." muttered Morag as he started to realize the underestimated power of his opponent.  "Grraah!! Then you shall have to face the consequences of your insolence!!  I AM the executioner!!  Take this!!!"  A stream of dark energy blasted from his ring.

"Hah! Executioner?  Not anymore, Morag!! Lightning hyren! Thunder Streak!!" replied Nimbulo as his hyren attacked, sending out a dazzling beam of lightning to counterattack Morag's dark spell.  "BZZIIWWW!!!"  The streams of energy crashed and collided each other, making continuous torrents gushing out from the grueling attackers.  A huge collision of energy stormed in the middle of the flooding streams, one that was of evil and the other electrifying.

"Go lightning hyren!! Blast him into oblivion!!"

"Grahahah!! I will never lose to your puny frail creature!!"

"GRRAAAAAARRRGGHH!!!!!"

*           *           *

Magi were crawling around in the dark and humid base of the Core.  Eye-blinding spells were being cast frequently not just to aid their creatures that were smashing, slashing, skewering, trampling, destroying, demolishing, and terrorizing, but also to eliminate or counter opposing offenses.  This gruesome war could be evidently, one of the most devastating battles in the Moonlands'  history.

In the center of the war was a fortress basically made out of stone and iron, though most of it was made out of bones and skulls of majestic beasts.  Glowing mutant fungi that grew on the rotten bones of the structure are what provide a fade green light for the inhabitants of the Core.  Now, the glowing fungi have become useless, for lit torches and flashing fireballs were doing its job.

*           *           *

In the southeast corner of the battlefield, Lanyx, a Cald shadow magi, was confronting his former boss, Barak of the Cald.

"Barak!! How nice of you to drop by. How is the Cald doing? Very bad, I assume," insulted Lanyx.  He then summoned his core grags, his favorite creatures.  "You're gonna regret not handing over the throne to me!  With the Core's darkness surrounding me, my powers are truly greater than you, Barak!!"

            "......" Barak said nothing, and expressed nothing.

"How dare you say nothing!!" said the angry Lanyx.  "You're gonna regret doing that!"

In a muffled and slothful way, Barak muttered, "Doesn't this fool have any other word to say?  Regret, hahahahaha..."

 "What did you say!?" spat Lanyx.

            "Oh! You heard that? Impressive how you can, in this war environment...with the noise and everything...and with that tarnished helmet on..."

            "How dare you insult my helmet!" said Lanyx as he touched his steel helmet, checking to see if Barak was right.  "See!? My helmet is so antiseptic and so shiny you can see your thick eyebrows in it!!  Hahahahahaa!!"  Lanyx laughed, but it sounded like cackles in the helmet, so hard and so loud, the war actually stopped and everything was silent.  The entire battlefield was staring at him.

            "Hahahahahaha...hahaha...haha...hah...haa..............................WHAT??" Pretending that nothing happened, the war continued.

            Barak then laughed, "You are such a disgrace to a region! Hahahaha!!  What an embarrassment to the Core!!  Hahahahahahaa..."  With that said,  Barak turned and walked away from Lanyx, hoping to find someone or something worthy enough to be destroyed.

            "Where do you think you're going, Barak?!!  Are you a coward?!!" yelled the now frustrated Lanyx.  Barak ignored Lanyx and continued walking away.

            "You'll regret this!!  Core grags!!  Firestorm!!!" Lanyx had now lost his temper as he sent his core grags to attack Barak.  They exploded behind him, turning from purple-green, indescribable creatures to a swarm of raining, blazing flames of fireballs.  Barak still kept on walking, knowing that the fireballs were closing in on him.

            "You are a fool, Barak!" thought Lanyx as the fireballs exploded in front of Barak.  The explosion was so intense that even Lanyx felt hot behind his caged helmet.  "Hahahahahaha!!" laughed Lanyx as he celebrated what he thought, his victory.  As the explosion weakened, thin puffs of gray smoke appeared.  Lanyx stood in disbelief as he saw Barak's shadow still standing.  And the flames that surrounded Barak were even bigger than before.

            When the smokes disappeared, Barak grinned and said, "Did you think you're the only one with power surrounding you?"  Lanyx didn't understand what Barak said but did when he saw the entire Cald army behind Barak.  Lifted staffs and relics were seen by Lanyx.  They had created a shield for Barak, meaning Lanyx had wasted his beloved core grags.

            "Aaaargghhh!!!  Curse you Barak!!"  Then he heard a voice, which he knew quite well.

"Goodbye, Lanyx."  It was Grega, a female Calder who rejected Lanyx's proposal when he was still in the Cald.  And with that farewell, a Thermal Blast sparked out from her ring and flew towards Lanyx.

            "Noooo...Grega!!  Please!!  Not that again...!!  Aaarrrrrggghhhh..."  Lanyx had been blasted by this spell a few times before, and he didn't like it at all.

"BOOOOOOOOMMM!!"

Well, that was one shadow magi.  The other Core magi including the corrupting Nagsis, the executing Morag and even the feared Dark Twins had their own problems.  The Core was facing 10 regions each commanded by their elders. And the elders were all united and led by one Earthling, one ordinary citizen, one normal boy, Tony Jones, but called The Great Magus Kyros by the Moonlands.  He is said to be the savior of the Moonlands.  He will save them all from the Core's evilness.  He will mortalize Agram once and for all.  But Agram doesn't think he will.

Agram's eyes were taken by the Core for seeing the secrets of the darkness.  A brown colored blindfold covers his now empty eye sockets, for it occasionally emits a blinding flash of purple light.  He wore a weird looking piece of armor, which was quite hard to describe.  A round metal plate, which looked like a big red lion eye, was stuck across his chest, the upper part of the armor.  The torso was blue and muscular shaped, with gold lines of steel grilled at the sides.  Two black, huge, horn shaped shoulder plates were attached to the upper sides of the armor, followed by a pair of gold-embraced steel gauntlets, which he wore on his arms and hands.  A long brown robe covered the armor he wore on his legs and feet, swaying back and forth as Agram walked.  His past is unknown, but he was said to once have been a normal magi like the others.  But the Core chose him to lead its underlings to their goal of world corruption, and he is forced to.  He became the Core and the Core became him.  This war was said to be the final decisive battle as said in the legend (or at least everyone thinks it is) :

_One day, a boy shall unite the Moonlands,_

_saving them from the Core's evilness and cruelty._

_One day, a war shall erupt between good and evil,_

_the answerless 'when' leaves everyone with curiosity._

_One day, a victor will triumph over its achievement,_

_leaving the vanquished defeated suffering with triviality._

_For it will be either the Great Magus or the Core,_

_who will gain control of the Moonlands for eternity._

Now, Agram waits patiently in his throne room, for the boy in the legend.  The Core was getting very unstable at this moment, for almost all the Core magi have been defeated.

Fast footsteps were heard by Agram, and he instantaneously knew it was Korg and Zet, two little boisterous, pesky lackeys of his.

"Master, master!!" they called for Agram.

"Master!!  All our magi have been defeated!  Their closing in on us!! reported Zet, the shorter of the two.

Korg, the larger but more dull-witted of the two, interrupted, "Hey, Zet! What about the Dark Tw—

Korg stopped his words when he saw Zet's weird facial expression which meant:

"Don't tell him, you idiot!  Remember the present Warrada (the female of the Twins) was going to give us?!" [the Dark Twins, Warrada and Hrada, had actually fled out of the Core (looks like it), after being literally pulverized by the Naroom, the region which the twins tried to take over before this]

"Oh...haha…uhh...yeah!  Right, Zet! All of our magi have been defeated!!  Hahahaha…"  Korg saw another weird expression on his partner's face.  This time his left eyebrow was slightly higher and the nostrils were opened way wider than before, which meant:

"How many times do I have to tell you?!  Never repeat what I said or you'll blow it!!"

"Oh...haha...uh...uhh...umm...what AM I supposed to say then?!!"

"You don't HAVE to say anything!!"

"But it'll look obv—

Korg's sentence didn't finish as Agram began to growl, which was a thing all Core magi were afraid of.

"KORG!!  ZET!!" shouted Agram.  "Aaahh!!...aa..y..yy..yess?" both of them stammered in fear.

"Any sign of Kyros?" asked Agram.  "Uhh..nn.no," they were still shaking.

Suddenly, "BBRRAAGGHHSSHHH!!!"  A  gigantic boulder went through the door of Agram's throne room, whacking the carved steel door to the floor, flying past Korg's head, and finally whamming the wall at the end of the room.  It was T'lok, a Kybar's Teeth magi who just loved throwing gigantic rocks.  Moreover, he liked seeing people try to catch them.

"Anyone caught that?"

A few seconds later, the floor began to shake and out of it suddenly crawled out an Underneath magi with sharp, thick digging claws.  And after _that_, the ceiling began to crumble as pieces of rocks started to fall down.  "BRROOMMM!!"  A hole appeared in the ceiling, and a fleet of Arderial magi came swooping down into the room.

"There you are." said the elders of the 10 regions as they gathered around Agram.  Korg and Zet had already fled, abandoning their surrounded leader with his guests.

"Let me take him!!" said a Kybar's Teeth warrior, Kyg'n.

"I wanna take him down!! yelled the insanely brave Naroom magi, Woot.

"Let him taste the heat of my boomstick!" said Ashgar, an old Calder.

"I'll slash him to shreds!!" said Gogor, an underneath magi.

"My Ice Hyren will freeze him to death!!" a Nar magi said as he patted his Ice Hyren's freezing furry body.

With everyone having their own methods of attacking, they all stormed at Agram.  The room was rumbling as if there were gargagnors in there, huge creatures that were actually mountains.

"YAAAARRRRGGHH!!!!!"  Everyone, except the sane regional elders were all close to sending their first attack when suddenly…

                        "GHAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Huge flows of dark energy flooded out of Agram.  The whole room was engulfed in "Crushing Darkness", a Core spell that could crush (obviously) non-Core beings. The energy blasts blasted everyone in sight.  No one was defending against it, no one could.

With another deafening cry, Agram let out another surge of energy blasts.

            "GHRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This time, it sent the entire fortress down.  Rocks and debris were flying all over the place and everyone was too hurt to even try to escape.  A huge stone plate from the ceiling came down and it was falling onto an injured Tryn, Barak's lover from Naroom.

"Hellpp!!!  Barak!!!" cried Tryn.  Ignoring all pain from falling rocks and Crushing Darkness, Barak ran as fast as he could to save her.  He saw Tryn and immediately fired a huge fireball from his enormous palms.

"Tryn!!!" warned Barak.  Tryn heard his voice and quickly covered herself with her arms.  "BBGGGRRRRRSSSHHHH!!"  The fireball exploded as it hit the falling stone plate.  Barak then reached her and immediately covered her with his huge arms and armored body,  receiving all the pain that was supposed to hit Tryn.

"Barak…"

"Tryn…"

The whole structure collapsed.  The walls crushed each other,  the floors compressed and creased, the ceilings fell down like huge flat meteors, rocks, bones, creatures, Crushing Darkness and magi were flying all over the place.  Some got skewered by the energy blasts, some got hit by raining rocks, some fell to the ground head first...it was truly a horrible and painful sight.

The stone fortress had now become nothing more but a pile of rubble.  Neither a creature nor magi could be seen, for huge pieces of rocks had fallen onto them, some just covering, some injuring and some killing.  Suddenly, rocks from the center of the pile began shaking.  Dark purple light blasted out from the cracks in the rocks, shining and crushing the rocks that covered it.  Slowly, the stones cracked and finally exploded.  What was standing in the center of the pile of rocks was now Agram.  His whole green body was surrounded by the Core's darkness, the Core's power.

"Where are you, KYROS?!!" he bellowed.  His patience was starting to reach its utmost limit. 

Several other colored lights started to crawl out of the crevices.  Blue lights freed the Orothe elder, Mobis.  Red freed Barak, who was still holding Tryn in his arms.  Green freed Orwin from the Naroom.  Yellow freed Zaya from the Weave.  Orange colored lights revealed M'lady Iyori, the emissary to Paradwyn.  The regional elders were all alive but severely injured,  so were a few other magi from their regions.  Most of the magi were found trapped inside the huge piles of rocks, and most were fatally crushed by them.

"We all defeated his Core Magi, but why can't we even TOUCH him?!" the Kybar's Teeth elder, Targ'n said.

Mobis, who was sort of the smartest of the elders replied, "Only Kyros can, Targ'n.  You never listen to the legends, do you?"

"Legends, legends.  I think they're all liars!  I will prove it to you!!  We don't need legends to help us!!" said the Kybar's Teeth elder as he dreamed up a gigantic mountain-like creature, a greater gargagnor.  It came down with an earthquake that made everybody fall down except Agram who was floating in the darkness.

"This mountain will be your grave, Core leader!!"  Targ'n ordered his greater garganor forward and it charged towards Agram.  The other elders were astonished with Targ'n's abnormal behavior.

"Targ'n you fool!  You've seen what he's done!! warned Orwin, the Naroom elder.

"I don't care!!  Nothing can stop this invincible mountain from charging!!!"

The greater gargagnor charged at full speed, running with each step thundering the grounds of the Core.  Agram held his hands in front of him, and out came a discharge of dark corrupting energy.  It hit the storming gargagnor, and gradually, it stopped charging.  It stood still in front of Agram.

"Haha!!!  See?!! Nothing can destroy my mountain!!!" proved Targ'n.  "Go gargagnor!!  Bury him to the ground!!!"  Targ'n didn't sound like himself at all.  He usually thinks rationally like an elder, but instead, he has been acting like a mindless warrior.

The gargagnor still stood in front of Agram.  Slowly, it turned to Targ'n.  Its eyes were flashing purple in the cracks of its mountain body.

"It has been corrupted!!  Nothing would destroy it now, right Targ'n?!" said Mobis as he started to run like the other magi.  The gargagnor was now walking towards Targ'n, with its now corrupted soul, it was under Agram's control.

Targ'n couldn't believe it.  Of course nothing could make a mountain fall, surely, but what about the inner body, the heart of the Gargagnor, the internal body of the mountain?  The core, the heart, it could change...and it did.

"Nn..nnooo..NOOO!!!" Targ'n cried.

"Get outta there you fool!!" Gia the Weave seer yelled at Targ'n.  The three hundred foot tall mountain was now standing in front of him, waiting for its new master's orders.

A purple light flashed in Agram's empty eye sockets, behind the piece of cloth he wore to obscure them.  "Kill him," he whispered.

The greater gargagnor lifted its hands, leaving small rocks and sand flying all over Targ'n.  "Kill him" was what the Gargagnor heard, and also what it was going to do. It let its huge hands that were now fists of rocks flying towards Targ'n.  He jumped out of his spot as the ground was crushed by the mountain's 60 feet in diameter fists.  The creature then leapt forward, flying towards Targ'n.  It was going to turn him into a pancake, only the syrup was red in color.  Targ'n was hopeless, for the mountain was 300 feet tall and 200 feet wide; its shadow covered everywhere that could be seen.  This would mean the end for him.

The Kybar's Teeth elder closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.

"What's he thinking?!  This isn't like Targ'n at all!!" said Kazm, a winged Kybar's Teeth magi.  "Can't he cast a Rockslide or something?!"

"What a fool I am.  A disgrace to my tribe.  Unworthy to be elder."

The Moonlands' gravity hastened the gargagnor's fall, increasing the strength of the impact it would make.  Targ'n's death was but a few seconds away, when suddenly…

            "KRRAAAAAGGBOOOOOOMMM!!!"

Flaming fireballs burst from the inside of the gargagnor, scattering huge chunks of rocks and trees into the air.  The whole place shook.  Every living magi was deafened by the sound of the large explosion. It was so immense and chaotic, that the Core sounded like it was grumbling, muttering, crying, and finally Agram heard it...screaming.  The explosion wasn't a normal one, it was a holy explosion, a Cleansing explosion.  Cleansing spells could purify all that was evil to good.  Only this one didn't purify, it _destroyed_ the corrupted gargagnor.  Agram's body wasn't surrounded by darkness anymore, for the blinding lights created by the Cleansing engulfed all darkness in the heart of the Core.

"Kyrosss..." the Core whispered in Agram's heart.

As the lighting explosion gradually faded, the Core's darkness swirled over Agram again and so it did to the rest of the Core.  The gargagnor, in the other hand, had vanished, leaving only pieces of rock and sand beside the lifelessly lying Targ'n.

"Targ'n!!"  Appearing out of the darkness, the long awaited Tony Jones came running into the scene.  He wore a red, hooded long-sleeved shirt, followed by a pair of light-colored, baggy trousers which had four army pockets sewn at the sides.  His long yellow hair flew lightly behind him, accompanied by his dangling sideburns which tickled his ears as he ran.

"Targ'n! Are you...!!" Tony kneeled in front of the lying elder.  The other magi came running towards him too.

"Kyros!  What took you so long?!" asked Gia.

"Sorry, I got a little occupied by the Bograthians." replied Tony.  Bograth was a region, and the_ only_ region, that allied with the Core.  This is because it was ruled by a "Magnificent, Illustrious, and Ruthless" Core emperor, All-High King Korg (yes, Korg).

"I don't understand.  It was a perfect hit.  Cleansing spells don't affect non-Core magi."  He was sure the Cleansing spell he cast affected only evil and corrupted creatures.  "Even its explosion avoids from hitting non-Core beings."

"Is he..." sniffed Grej, a female Kybar's Teeth magi.

"I...think so," replied Tony unbelievingly.

"Nnoooo...our tribe chief—

She started crying when suddenly a black beam of darkness darted past her, missing a few inches from her head.  "Eeeeeekkkk!!"

"Puny mortals," Agram said as he appeared near them.  Near enough for a duel.  He dreamed up a core hyren, a huge nightmare creature which was entirely made out of bones of other dead hyrens.  It screeched and flapped its wings vigorously, sending the magi in front of it flying past the others.

"Stop it, Agram!  It's me you want!  Not them!" yelled Tony.  "Are you ready to be defeated again?!"  He ordered the other magi to get out of the way, for this battle's result was going to be the fate of the Moonlands.


	2. Somewhere Near the Beginning

**CHAPTER 2**

            Agram grinned evilly.  The other magi had already scampered for cover, leaving the Great Magus Kyros and Agram facing each other, ready to duel.  The core hyren, hovering a few meters above Agram, was sort of smirking malevolently at Tony.  With no intention of stalling time, he dreamed up his first creature, a furok.  It was a fearsome beast with gleaming green fur, a pair of gigantic shielded horns, and sharp claws that glittered in the darkness of the dueling grounds.  However, its size was no bigger than the hyren's.

"Is that your best? Hahahah!" Agram said.  He expected a larger, and more ferocious creature from his eminent opponent.

"Size doesn't matter!  This is the creature that defeated you, Agram!" replied Tony.

"Hahahaha!!  Let us see if it can now!  Eradicate him, my beast!!"  And so, the duel started.

Agram's core hyren screeched at an ear-drum exploding pitch, and thus, charged at the furok.  The furok then leapt aside, evading the hyren's attack.  The core hyren immediately swung its enormous wings towards the furok, sending the second attack.  That too, was dodged by the furok.  It was now right under the hyren's wings, in front of its vulnerable torso bones.

"Now, furok!!" Tony ordered.

The furok's horns sparkled with energy.  It aimed straight for the hyren's exposed torso...

                        "KRRRAAAAAAWWWWKK!!!"

            A blinding light flashed.  The furok, Tony, and all of the other magi were silent, motionless, and petrified.

The furok's horns...cracked, and shattered.

The core hyren's eyes narrowed with total brutality.  It stood in front of the furok, which writhed violently on the ground, moaning and roaring for the pain caused by its broken horns.  Tony Jones...was frozen.

"Th...this...can't be happening..."

Agram, who was floating about in the darkness, smiled venomously upon the moans and groans of the feeble and brittle furok.  "Finish it."

The core hyren soared high into the dark sky of the Core.  With a crack of thunder, it dived straight towards the suffering furok on the ground; its sharp beak aimed right for it.  The hyren's body was covered in the Core's darkness, but suddenly, it started glowing.

"What?!" Agram was startled with the mysterious glow on his hyren.  "What spell are you trying, Kyros?!"  He had never seen his creatures glow so brightly before, moreover in the darkness that swirled mightily throughout the Core.  "Whatever you're doing, it will never work!!"  Agram pointed his ring to Tony and a blast of Crushing Darkness flew out.

"Aaarrgh!!"  It hit Tony and sent him flying towards the other magi who were hiding behind a pile of oversized bones and skeletons.  Fortunately, a soft, bushy hand-shaped hunk of grass was created by Zaya, the Weave elder to catch Tony.

"Hahahah!! You're so easy to..." Agram started, but instantly stopped when he realized his hyren glowing even more vibrant than ever.  And it continued to brighten even more, and more, and more...until...

            "ZZZZZIIIIIIWWW!!!"

The charging core hyren had disappeared.  There was no explosion at all, it just...disappeared.  Therefore, the furok was saved...but by who?

Tony Jones came running back into the battlefield, called back his injured furok and it vanished into his ring.  "Please rest, furok."

Agram, who was still standing in the middle of the field, gawked skeptically at the sky his core hyren was once where.  "What...the..."  He couldn't believe that his mighty core hyren just disappeared into thin air like that.

"Must be those stupid magi back there..." he thought.  But no, if even the Great Magus Kyros' furok couldn't stand a chance against it, certainly no other magi could just...vanish his hyren.

"Grr...I will not let anyone have powers exceeding mine...YOU SHALL ALL DIE!!!"

Agram ascended slowly into the air, his body was enveloped by darkness.  The Core started to rumble.  A cataclysm was coming...

"What?!  He can't cast Cataclysm!!  Its an Arderial spell!!" said all of the Arderians that were hiding there.

"Maybe its not a Cataclysm," Gia said.

"But whatever it is, it's going to be destructive and devastating as a Cataclysm is..." replied M'lady Iyori, looking at Agram who seemed to be draining and consuming the Core's darkness.  He was completely in the middle of a thunderstorm, a clash of dark energy that swirled and gathered around him.  He was going to borrow all of the Core's powers...

And Tony Jones couldn't just let him do that.  "Don't think you've won, Agram!"  As he said that, a leaf hyren, a cliff hyren, a thunder hyren, and an ash hyren appeared.  "Attack him!!"

Tony's hyrens blasted their strongest powers.  Flaring fireballs, bolts of electricity, razor sharp leaves, and a mountain of rocks and boulders flew towards Agram.

"You cannot stop me!!" Agram bellowed.  A black energy shield materialized around him, impeding the attacks of Tony's hyrens.

"Damn!!  What has made him so powerful?!", thought Tony, strengthening the clench of his fists that were now crackling with white energy.

Back in the chaos of the panicking crowd of magi,  the Avatar of D'resh noticed Tony standing helplessly in front of the darkness-devouring Agram.  He couldn't let the Moonlands fall to the hands of the Core so easily.  He called out for the elders of every region.  "Hear me wise elders of the Moonlands!"  They gathered around him.

"The Great Magus Kyros is falling.  It is up to us elders to stop Agram now," Avatar said.

"But it's just a matter of time before he throws a Cataclysm at us!" said Nimbulo.

"And he's got that...shield around him!" continued Orwin.

Avatar replied, "Yes, I see.  However, we..."

            "KAAAZZZIIIWWWW!!!"

An illuminating light shook the Core.  The shield that surrounded Agram was gone, however he still continued consuming and devouring the darkness that slowly immersed into his palms and body.  Tony's hands were stretched forward, aimed at Agram.  A rapidly fading light was seen in his palms.  He cast a Cleansing.

"Hahaha!  Your shield's gone, Agram!!" Tony said.

Agram didn't look very happy.  "You..."

"Hyrens!!  Attack him now!!" Tony ordered his hyrens to attack Agram while he was still vulnerable.

The hyrens charged at Agram with extraordinary speed.  Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Agram.  Its hands reached forward...

            "BOOOOOOOOM!!!"

Small pieces of animite scattered throughout the place.  The hyrens were no where to be seen.  Tony looked at the figure in front of Agram.  It was Morag.

"Morag?!" cried Nimbulo, Mobis and Orwin simultaneously (Mobis and Orwin helped Nimbulo fight Morag).  "I thought we..."

"Ignorant fools.  Do not interrupt my master," Morag said gravely.  His red hood was slightly torn and his bone armor was damaged; some of the bones were missing and the others were cracked and fractured.  Only his left eye could be seen glowing under his hood and it was very narrowed.  "Particularly you, Kyros!  You..."  Morag stopped his words when he noticed a very big structure looming closer and closer in front of him.  It was...a coiled finger.

            "TOING!!"

Morag flew past Agram with a speed of Mach 5.  The stretched finger, now released from the coil, belonged to a gigantic...machine, a robot.  It was Rayje's Construct.

It stood tall, towering over all the magi in the area, including Agram, who had paused the charging process.  He slowly lifted his head, to see the face of a giant colossus.  "Th...this is..."

The construct wore a gold helmet with a "Y" shaped hole in the front.  Inside the helmet was black except for two yellow, round eyes that lit even brighter when confronting the enemy.  The front of Rayje's Construct, the chest, was shaped like a ship's front.  Behind the helmet, attached to the back of the construct, was a ship's sail.  Now it is obvious that the construct could transform into a ship that Rayje uses to travel.  With four arms and two feet, its whole body was made out of an unknown metal.  The body parts were mostly covered with gold-bordered plates.  It was run by some sort of mechanism (it's a robot), a word that most magi in the Moonlands rarely hear.  Now, the 100 foot high Rayje's Construct stands in front of Agram; its eyes lit up fiercely for he was the master of the Core.

Rapid footsteps followed by clanks and clatters were heard by everyone.  Tony and all the other magi hiding in the pile of the oversized bones looked back.  A magi with short hair in the front but really long at the back came running into the scene.  It was Rayje.  "Yo!  Construct!  Wait for m...*clank*...OOF!!"  He tripped, mouth first.  "Augh...what is this?!  Filthy Core sand..."  He got up.  "Yo, construct!  I said wai..."

            "CLUNK!! OOF!!"

Rayje had brought all his legendary relics with him; Rayje's Sword, Rayje's Band, Rayje's Belt, Rayje's Shield, and Rayje's Boots.  His relics were all made out of some sort of material like gold, which was heavy.  They clanked and clattered on his legendary armor as he ran struggling.

The other magi stared at the was-legendary Rayje with despondency.

"......"

"Don't you get it? You can't beat me!!" Agram shouted with confidence.  "Legendary Rayjeeee..."

"Can you just stop bragging already?" Tony shouted back.  "This is supposed to be a fight not a debate!" Tony was feeling very angry because of the defeat of his furok and his other hyrens.  He only had one last creature in his disposal, that much was clear.  The question was, what was Tony's last creature?

"If this works, I'm going to kiss Ulk when this is over," Tony whispered as he drew out his final ring. 

"Go, athik!!" Tony shouted.  His ring started to glow.  A snail-like dream creature materialized in front of Agram.  It looked...

Puny.

Agram started to laugh.  What was Tony trying to pull off? Only the Underneath magi present knew why Tony had dreamed up a puny little athik to face the all powerful Master of the Core.

"This is your last creature? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Agram laughed.

Rayje walked up to Tony.  "Kyros, this is your chance to retreat.  Tryn will heal your creatures for you.  The athik and I will hold Agram off for the time being," he said.

"Retreat?" Tony repeated.  "Who do you think I am? A chicken? I run from no one!"

"I thought you said that no bragging is allowed," Agram cut in.

"SHUT UP!" Tony snapped.  "I get to brag because I'm the hero!"

"Uh...right," Rayje shrugged.  Tony was too stubborn for his own good.  "I'm sorry, Kyros but I have to save you from your own big head." 

"CLANG!"

Tony slumped unconscious to the ground.  Rayje sheathed his sword.  He had used the hilt of his sword to knock Tony out.  Rayje turned to Tryn and Barak.

"Someone take him back to Naroom and heal him," Rayje said.  He took out his Colossus ring.  " In the meantime..."

Just then, an ash hyren appeared in front of Rayje.  It was followed by a reef hyren, a blade hyren, a jungle hyren, a forest hyren, a rock hyren and tons of other hyrens.  Rayje turned around.  All of the elders stepped forward.  Kyg'n was fighting in Targ'n's place.

"Come on, you didn't expect us to let you hog all the fun, did you?" Kyg'n grinned. 

"This isn't just your fight, Rayje. This is our fight as well," Orwin said.

"FOOLS!!! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MANY OF YOU THERE ARE!!! NOTHING CAN DEFEAT THE POWER OF THE—

            "WHAM!!"

"Shut up!" a brash young voice shouted.  Someone had thrown the Kybar's Hammer into Agram's face.  Agram, who was too busy crowing didn't have time to block.  His pride had cost him dearly, for now he had a lump on his cheek.  A very big lump. 

Rayje smiled.  The hammer must've come from Ullig, a female Kybar's Teeth magi who was known for her impatience.

Meanwhile, Tryn and Barak were moving away from the battlefield with Tony lying unconscious in Barak's arms.

"Tony is too impatient and stubborn," Barak said.

"And you are?" Tryn smiled cheekily.

"Hey, I'm not..." then Barak thought of all the times when Tryn had to restrain him from going all out berserk.  "Never mind."

"I CAN TAKE ON ALL OF YOU IF I WANTED TO!!! YOU'RE ALL PUNY MAGGOTS AND NOTHING MORE!!!" Agram bellowed.  "But I think I won't take on all of you, I'll let my shadow magi do it for me," he added in a slower voice.  
            Just then, Ashgar, Orwin, Mobis, Nimbulo and Motash were blown away by a blast of dark energy. Five figures ran out from behind Agram towards the fallen elders.

Lanyx ran after Ashgar.  Qwade ran after Mobis.  Harror ran after Nimbulo.  Warrada ran after Orwin with her dorky brother, Hrada by her side.  But who was the shadow magi that blasted Motash? Ogar was definitely out of the question. She was on the other side of the battlefield, healing some injured magi.

"Bronk?" Motash murmured as he stood up slowly, using his staff for support.

"As you can see, I have a replacement for Ogar," Agram said. 

"But...the shadow magi are supposed to be dead! I killed Harror about half an hour ago!" Kyg'n exclaimed. (how did he know about hours and minutes?)

"With me," T'lok finished Kyg'n's sentence.  Kyg'n was the one who had fought Harror, yes, but it was a gigantic boulder from T'lok that had ended the duel.

"You don't have to remind us about that," Harror said dryly, clenching her fists with rage.  She still looked a bit bruised from the previous attack, but she was supposed to be lying on the ground with all her bones shattered.  How could she still be standing?

"That rock wasn't enough to kill me," Harror told T'lok.  She turned back to Nimbulo.  "None of your attacks can destroy us.  We are too powerful for you to beat."

"Oh boy...why is everyone bragging for crying out loud?" Rayje exclaimed.

Harror ignored Rayje and continued to mutter more things about the greatness of the Core, Agram, the good things about being evil, etc...  What she didn't realize was that while she was busy talking...

Harror noticed a large shadow hovering on top of her.  With lightning-fast reflexes, she turned around and shot out a bolt of lightning.  T'lok's boulder shattered in mid-air.

"HAHA! Stupid boulders! Told you!!" Harror laughed.

But there was another one coming her way.  She stopped talking and destroyed the second boulder the same way that she destroyed the first. But more boulders were coming her way.  At the rate T'lok was moving, it was as if he had twelve arms or something.

Another boulder came towards Harror.  She was starting to get annoyed.  What she didn't notice was that everyone else, including Agram was watching the display of flying rocks.

She dodged aside.  Then she saw what was happening.  T'lok wasn't the only one hurling boulders at her.  Sorreah, the Arderial magi was using the wind to move the boulders towards her.  A group of baldars were joining in.  Well, that explained the countless boulders.

"Why me?!" Harror shouted, sounding very irritated.  "There's Warrada and her dorky brother Hrada and Qwade and Lanyx and..." she stopped.  The boulders had stopped coming towards her.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Hrada asked nervously.  Everyone was looking at him.  T'lok had a wicked sneer on his face that made Hrada think that he was up to something.

"Uhh...Hrada? If I were you, I would run," Warrada said as she moved as far away from Hrada as possible, not wanting to be hit by the storm of rocks coming their way.

"Why isn't ANYONE acting seriously? This is a fight to determine the fate of the Moonlands for crying out loud! We're not supposed to be playing catch like kids!" Rayje shouted, now looking as if his head was going to explode.

No one listened.  Everyone (except the Core magi, who were just watching their comrade getting squished) was focusing their attention on Hrada.

"Oh, what the heck?" Rayje whispered. He turned towards his construct.  "Pick up a boulder and join in!!"

*           *           *

"I wonder what we're missing?" Tryn said as they laid the unconsious Tony on Tryn's bed. 

"Probably a very big battle where everyone is screaming and fighting," Barak replied.  "Damn it, I wish I was there!"

"Uh, Barak.  Our bed is still wet," Tryn pointed out.

"Wet? How come?" Barak asked.

"From last nights...escapade," Tryn answered.

"Let's put him on the couch, then," Barak said.

*           *           *

By now, no one was paying any more attention to the big pile of rocks that was on top of the last place that Hrada was standing.  Everyone had an opponent.  The elders were fighting the shadow magi.  Rayje was facing Agram.  The athik...was just standing aside, not knowing what to do since its master was nowhere to be seen.

Rayje had dreamed up a colossus to support his construct. Agram had dreamed up a core hyren and a gorath to defend against Rayje's towering mechanical creatures.  The time for talking was over.  Everyone was serious now.  For the time had come when the fate of the Moonlands would be determined by this legendary and colossal battle. 

"C'mon," Rayje said as he drew his sword.  "Let's end this."


	3. Somewhere Nearer to the Beginning

**CHAPTER 3**

            Ashgar watched as his ash hyren was reduced to dust by Lanyx's scythe.  The Cald shadow magi drew back his scythe before he dreamed up a core grag to battle Ashgar's remaining creature, a drakan.

            "Your hyrens aren't that strong, are they?" Lanyx said mockingly.

            "I don't need hyrens to kill you, traitor," Ashgar replied.  A fireball appeared in his hand.

            The core grag charged towards Ashgar's drakan.  Ashgar aimed and fired.  The fireball hurtled towards the core grag with blinding speed.  If everything went according to the way Ashgar planned, the core grag would be blown to smithereens before it could attack his drakan.

            But Ashgar wasn't experienced in battling Core creatures.  He had never fought a core grag before.  As the fireball reached the core grag, the core grag started to burn with black fire.  The burning core grag split into seven pieces of small chunks of burning mass, creating a rain of fireballs.  The first few shots destroyed the drakan while the rest flew straight towards Ashgar.

            Pain filled the Cald magi's body.  He was shot back a few metres before he crumpled down onto the ground.

            "You're no fun," Lanyx said.  "I wanted to fight Barak, not you. You're just a useless old geezer."

            But Ashgar wasn't done yet.  Ashgar leaped up onto his feet faster than any normal old person could do.  He wasn't just an old geezer.  He was an old geezer with power.  And spells.  Lots of them.

            "FLAME GEYSER!!" Ashgar shouted. 

            The ground underneath Lanyx turned red.  He didn't even have enough time to scream as a column of lava erupted from underneath him, sending him flying.

*           *           *

            "CATACLY...no.  Too big.  MINI CATACLYSM!!" Harror shrieked.  (A normal cataclysm would have blown half of the battlegrounds away, herself included)

            Nimbulo watched helplessly as his dream creatures were knocked off the battlefield one by one.  Harror was obviously stronger than she looked.  Nimbulo had made a mistake by underestimating the Arderial shadow magi.  If it weren't enough that she had powerful Core spells at her disposal, she had also mastered a few Arderial spells.  Cataclysm was one of them.

            "Alaban!" Nimbulo shouted as he dreamed up a serpent-like Arderial creature.  He had to act quickly if he wanted to beat Harror.  She had youth, speed, and power in her.  He had knowledge.  It wasn't much, but it would have to do for the time being.

            "Heh," Harror grinned.  "Dark ayebaw!" she shouted, dreaming up her own dream creature.

*           *           *

            "Go timber hyren! Crush that shryque!" Orwin commanded.

            Warrada and Hrada watched as their dream creature was ripped to shreds by the giant dream creature that Orwin had dreamed up.  Hrada was limping slightly since he was still hurt from the flying boulders.

            Warrada turned to her brother and gave him a menacing stare.  "Let _me_ choose the dream creature this time."

            "How was I supposed to know that Orwin had a timber hyren _that_ big?" Hrada exclaimed.

            Warrada dreamed up a chaos jile to battle Orwin's timber hyren.  "Come on, old man," she said.  "My brother may be an idiot—

            "HEY!" Hrada shouted, nudging his sister.

            Warrada just ignored her brother.  "My brother may be an idiot, but I am not."

            "You're the ones who corrupted Evu," Orwin said slowly.  He stepped forward, his eyes burning with rage.  "I won't forgive you for taking Naroom away from me.  You will pay!"

            "Make us," Warrada smiled slyly.

*           *           *

            "Look around you, Rayje.  Look at all this fighting.  You know that you can't win this battle," Agram said slowly.

            Rayje walked up to his construct's lowered hand and leaped onto it.  The construct placed Rayje on its shoulder.  "Maybe.  But I'll be damned if I let you win without a fight."

            "Heh.  Your choice," Agram replied.  His core hyren stretched its wings above Agram.  "Let us begin then."

*           *           *

            "You're no elder.  I just knew that fighting you would be so easy," Chur said as she shot out another beam of dark energy towards Kyg'n.  The Kybar's Teeth magi gave out a shout before he was slammed into a wall behind him.

            "Damn it, I don't understand," Kyg'n groaned as he tried to stand up.  His body felt as if it had been thrown through a giant blender.  The pain that he felt now was intense.  He had never felt such pain before.  "How could you be so strong?  I've tried everything..."

            Chur kicked Kyg'n in the face.  "There's nothing you can do, weakling."

            "Maybe," Kyg'n reached down his pockets, as if he were searching for something.  "Maybe if you corrupted me..."

            "Are you surrendering?" Chur smiled.

            "Uhh..." Kyg'n slipped a ring onto his finger.

            "No."

            Chur didn't have time to react.  Kyg'n had kicked _her in the face before he somersaulted away.  Where had the sudden burst of strength come from?_

            Kyg'n tossed away a small green stone that Chur recognized as a dewstone.  She cursed herself for not finishing Kyg'n when she had the chance.

            "Heh.  Gotta get me more of those.  Ullig's rocks really work," Kyg'n whispered to himself.

            But still, what difference would it make? Kyg'n was still going to lose.

            "Yaargh!  Go darge!" Kyg'n shouted as his ring started to glow. 

            Just then, the ground under Chur started to move.  Slowly, a large figure rose.  It was a darge, a Kybar's Teeth creature that was known to be resistant to the power of the Core. 

            "Giving up now would be an insult to Targ'n's memory.  I'd rather die first," Kyg'n said defiantly.  He picked up his climbing staff, knowing that the battle was far from over.

*           *           *

            The gorath gave a yelp of pain as it was dragged down onto the ground. One of its chains was now in the hands of Rayje's colossus.  The large robotic dream creature was dragging the gorath around as if it were a mere ragdoll.

            Meanwhile, the construct was engaging Agram's core hyren.  The construct had the advantage in power, but the hyren was faster.  Most of the attacks that the construct had launched so far had ended in failure.

            Rayje was still standing on the construct's shoulder, barking commands and giving orders.  The core hyren was still flying around, still full of energy. Rayje's creatures, however had began to slow down.

            The colossus gave one last punch, destroying the gorath. Only the core hyren remained.  But Rayje was so busy paying attention to the hyren that he didn't notice Agram pointing his hand towards him.

            Purple sparks of energy started to appear around Agram's outstretched hand...

*           *           *

            "You WHAT?" Tony stood up.  He was in a totally different place now.  The last place he remembered was the dark and damp region of the Core.  Now, he was in Tryn's living room, which was far from being dark and mysterious.  It was bright and cheerful, with all those Barak portraits on the wall. 

            "Rayje told us to bring you here," Tryn said. 

            Tony made his way towards the door.  "Geez, who does that guy think he is? Does he think that he can do everything on his own?" He slipped on his animite rings.  Tryn had completely healed all of his creatures, and Tony was now ready for battle.

            "But what I don't get...is how he destroyed all of my hyrens in one shot," Tony said slowly.  "Is he really that powerful?  I _did_ defeat him the last time..."

            "I don't know.  Rayje is fighting him as we speak.  Maybe he'll get a bit tired out if we fight him one by one," Barak suggested.

            "One by one," Tony muttered.  "Won't that take too long?"

            "Hey, what's the rush?" Tryn smiled brightly.  "It's not like Agram is calling up a powerful spell that will wipe out the entire Core if we don't hurry up, right?"

            "Uhh..." Tony didn't know the answer to that.  Come to think of it...what _was_ Agram up to?

*           *           *

            Rayje fell to the ground with a loud clank.  Agram had just blasted him off his construct and now, he was lying on the ground with a severe pain running down his back.

            "Can't stop now," Rayje told himself.  Grimacing in pain, the magi stood up.  Strangely, he felt lighter.  He looked at his hands, his body, his waist...

            "MY BELT!!!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

            Rayje's belt was lying on the ground where he fell.  So were his sword and shield that were attached to it.  

            "AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!!!"

            The belt was cracked in the middle, which loosened its clutch around Rayje's waist.

            "MWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

            Rayje started to cry.  It deafened everything on the battlefield.

            Agram forced his hands onto his ears.  "W...WHAT THE—

            Even so, he could still feel Rayje's cries piercing into his skull.  Everyone was suffering the same situation as Agram.

            "MWWAAHAAAAAAA!!!"

            Agram couldn't take it any longer.  "WHAT ARE YOU SO FURIOUS ABOUT?!  IT'S JUST A SMALL CRACK!!" he bellowed.

            "I DON'T CARE IF IT'S SMALL OR BIG!!!  IT'S STILL CRACKED!!!  MWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"  As Rayje's cries grew louder, the rocks and sand that covered the Core's lands started to float, defying gravity.  Rayje's body gleamed in bright yellow light that swallowed the darkness around him.  His fists clenched and sparkled with white energy.  The "destruction" of his "unrepairable" and "legendary" belt had made him unleash...

Something.

            "HYYAAAAAAAARRGH!!!"  His eyes turned red.

            "YOU WILL PAY!!!"


End file.
